Urban Meyer finished strongly with the 2012 class, and he and the Ohio State staff have transitioned right into landing elite players for the 2013 class.

Thursday afternoon, the Buckeyes landed Eli Woodard, a New Jersey cornerback who also seriously considered in-state Rutgers and Notre Dame. He is the program’s fourth pickup for 2013.

Urban Meyer continues to be a force in recruiting after getting a commitment from Eli Woodard. (AP Photo)

Woodard is a consensus four-star prospect out of Eastern High School in Voorhees, N.J., and was ranked No. 28 overall in the most recent Rivals.com national rankings for the class of 2013. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound defensive back announced his choice via Twitter, building quite an audience during the afternoon leading up to his decision.

“I knew it all along that I wanted to go to Ohio State … ever since Urban Meyer got there,” Woodard told Sporting News right after the decision was announced. “They’ve told me they like that I have a nice physical presence, they like my speed and that I’m tall and I can handle one half of the field.”

Woodard also told Sporting News that he had a good relationship with future teammate Cameron Burrows, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound DB out of Trotwood, Ohio, who committed to the Buckeyes in January.

Alabama, Boston College, California, Georgia Tech, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Purdue and Wisconsin are some of the other schools that had offered Woodard. It should be noted that Penn State once did very well in New Jersey, but the recent turmoil in the program and Greg Schiano’s departure from Rutgers may have helped Ohio State.

“(Schiano leaving) might have had a little bit to do with not going to Rutgers, but even if he’d stayed I probably would have gone to Ohio State. I just might have thought about it a little bit longer,” Woodard said.

The Buckeyes got their second recruit this week, as Youngstown (Ohio) DT Billy Price (6-4/280) declared Monday, while blue chippers like Burrows and Middletown (Ohio) RB Jalin Marshall (6-0/190) chose the program in January.